Françoise JordanReflexology and Kinesiology

What Is Adrenal Fatigue..?

KINESIOLOGY FOR ADRENAL FATIGUE

By Françoise Jordan

Adrenal fatigue is perhaps the most common syndrome that I identify in clients on their first visit to me as a kinesiologist. But they often have no idea. They almost always come for other reasons. They may have difficulty conceiving, or their periods may be irregular. They may have frequent colds, may have difficulty falling asleep or wake up very early. They may experience intense fatigue, low energy levels mid-afternoon, or they might have mild or severe anxiety, and feel overwhelmed by even the smallest of stresses. They might find they are putting on weight, reach for a glass of wine or a cigarette all too easily, experience headaches. They may suffer from irritable bowel symdrome, develop food intolerance, or an array of other digestive disorders like constipation, stomach cramps or heartburn. In fact pretty much every stress symptom could be the result of adrenal fatigue.

They struggle, but they have difficulty admitting they are stressed. Everybody around them has similar lifestyles. After all, they eat healthily, take supplements, exercise, do yoga, drink very little alcohol and no coffee, living their life healthily and by the book!

In reality, they are burnt out, and tired of being tired. So if on top of that they were to experience something incredibly demanding and stressful, such as a divorce, a bereavement, or a major accident or surgery, their body can take an awful hit, and their struggle to stay well can intensify dramatically. Something then has to give. At such a point, they might resort to anti-depressants or HRT, or develop major illnesses such as cancer.

It is well worth keeping the adrenal glands – the tiny little glands that sit on top of your kidneys – in good shape. I really believe that you cannot achieve this purely by taking the right supplements alone. An understanding of the mind/body connection is very important when trying to help the health of the adrenals. After all, they are responsible for the ‘fight or flight ‘ response, ie . the body’s ability to cope with stress. They also regulate your blood sugar levels, heart rate and immune system.

They achieve that by secreting the hormones noradrenaline, adrenaline and cortisol – stress hormones that need to be balanced in order to maintain the body in a state of well-being. Just as meditation alone would never be enough to boost them, eating well, taking supplements and addressing emotional issues head on would never make that much difference either if you only did one of those things in isolation. If you suspect you might be experiencing adrenal fatigue, look at your life and your health holistically. Tackle your stresses – physical, mental and emotional – on every front.

Look at all the factors that might be contributing to straining those glands beyond the point at which they are no longer supplying your body with enough power. If the process seem daunting, rather see this as an opportunity to restore your health and happiness. See it as a gift! Focussing on the difficulty of it all will only cause procrastination, guilt and perhaps denial. Embrace the chance to really focus on all aspects of your life. Your body and your mind will thank you!

The muscle-testing techniques used in kinesiology help isolate precisely which supplements might be helpful in restoring the balance of the adrenals, which Bach or Bush flower remedy suits your particular emotional issues, and which particular stresses contribute to your own particular adrenal fatigue.

This awareness and knowledge of how your body reacts to your specific stresses is key to staying in control and taking charge of your own health.

You would certainly surprise yourself by not resorting to anti-depressants, sleeping tablets, or artificial drug. Your body and your mind would thank you for staying in control, staying more focused and clear headed, with a healthier and stronger body and a better understanding of yourself. A truly empowering and holistic therapy, like no other.

See “A Journey to Wellness” – a patient’s true account illustrating the ups and downs of reclaiming physical and emotional well-being through kinesiology.

For more information or to contact Francoise Jordan, visitwww.francoisejordan.co.uk

For professional reasons, I have changed the name of my client. However, she has volunteered to share a small part of her story.

A Journey to Wellness B>

Lara first came to see me in the summer of 2011, having walked out of a very difficult and unhappy marriage, and with a divorce looming. She had been taking anti-depressants for four months, but felt disappointed in herself for doing so and wanted to discontinue their use and her dependence on them.

“Antidepressants make me feel so numb, with no feelings, no emotion, rather like a raw piece of pastry, flat and lifeless ".

By chance, Lara met a visiting Australian kinesiology student one day. After listening to her intently, Lara’s interest took hold. She made further investigations before making an initial appointment with me.

Lara admits that she was thoroughly sceptical at first. She had never heard of kinesiology, but she was open-minded and willing to face up and recognise, what she called, “the cracks in the wall”. She clearly felt it was impossible to move forward while numbing the pain on anti-depressants and, in her view, her world needed to be resolved.

Many people can relate to that feeling of being anxious, depressed and having no energy, but when alarm bells start to ring inside, and suicide becomes an option, it’s time to act before you reach a point of no return. Experiencing that constant, deep, heavy, dark and powerful pain inside is horrible and destructive, and eventually your body and mind break down. Your heart hurts, your chest aches, your stomach no longer digests properly, you look thin and withdrawn, and your brain deactivates so much that you lose all confidence and find yourself incapable of even stringing a coherent sentence together.

I had always lived life to the full and was active and high-spirited for nearly two decades, before I allowed myself to become strongly influenced by my husband, our immediate family and many of those new friends one seems to collect.

I was living in London during the 1990s when, one day, like so many other young girls, I let go of my career, my financial independence and my friends. I headed off into the distance, tempted by the idea of a fairy-tale marriage to a handsome prince, to live in an isolated part of the countryside, to have a couple of kids and live happily ever after.

Over many years, I never failed to dedicate my love and care for my children or my family. I gave them everything I had to make sure they were all happy, yet secretly I became more and more detached and no longer my energetic self.

I missed the real world, I became dependent and felt insecure. I craved love and I passionately wanted to be understood. I felt crushingly lonely and just wanted to be myself again. My unhappiness became desperate and resentment began to build, but it was not until 2010 that I was finally diagnosed as being clinically depressed.

This possibly explained why I had reached out to so many others for inspiration, maybe for a way out of the life I now led. My husband and I had reached the stage in our lives when our children were heading off to boarding school, and at this point I knew my life had to change. I was ready to make sacrifices, to take charge no matter what. I needed to move forward, away from this deep and dark place. I needed a goal .

Lara was clearly feeling torn apart and at breaking point. She had made a firm decision in the New Year of 2011 to go to London, rent a room, find a job and commit herself to the long commute every weekend to the country where she could be with her two young children, who, for the rest of the week were boarding.

Her uncertainties about the future were considerable, but she was very determined to get herself a new life in spite of everything. It is at this point that she first came for treatment with me. Severe adrenal fatigue and anxiety were the prominent symptoms. I prescribed supplements to back up her adrenal glands (ginseng and rhodolia) and she walked away with EFT (emotional freedom technique) tools to help her stay positive and strong.

I had always been ambitious, and deep down I knew this was my chance to get back to work. I wanted to work for a successful firm in London where I could feel proud, appreciated and to earn an income of my own. This certainly wasn’t easy, but I retrained and set my sights on finding that goal. I was not helped in this regard by the recruitment agent who bluntly asked: “With so many women out there with years of experience looking for a job, what sort of employer would employ you after 14 years of not working?” That hit what little was left of my self-confidence, but I still believed in myself and, armed with good manners, I knew I would succeed.

At the start of 2011 I accepted a fantastic, part-time job in London. Despite being racked with nerves, secretly scared for my future, I was moving forward. I listened to my gut instincts and I learnt to breathe.

My husband was furious and quickly set about to find my replacement .

Lara came back to see me nine months later, suffering from severe tension in her jaw, neck and shoulders, as well as palpitations, and she was not eating properly. She seemed nonetheless highly focused and ultra-determined not to regress back down the anti-depressants route. She admitted the supplements for adrenal fatigue seemed to have sustained her energy levels, allowing her to remain strong and not to be afraid of the legal proceedings that lay ahead.

Muscle testing showed she was slightly deficient in magnesium, and for the next two years I periodically recommended she take the adrenal gland booster that I’d advised her to take previously, together with magnesium glycinate, and a multivitamin and mineral.

Kinesiology had taken a grip, my health was much more in control, I felt calmer, and I had even managed to put on a pound or two, which was a huge achievement in itself. I began to understand the key elements of kinesiology, and the way in which our bodies need rebalancing from time to time.

Considering the high level of daily supplements I was taking, along with the benefits of eating healthily, I realise now how much I had neglected my health, and that there is true meaning behind the saying “you are what you eat”.

Francoise Jordan’s empathy and understanding of the way my body worked began to take effect. She firmly reminded me on every visit that my adrenal glands had been shot to pieces; that they had gone into over-drive and were no longer able to process the effects of stress that my body was enduring. In addition to the adrenal pills, I took large daily quantities of magnesium to help me stay calm. I remember laughing to myself when this was added to my list of supplements, as my equestrian father often gave huge spoonful’s of magnesium to his young horses in their feed, which instantly took effect and sorted out the naughty ones from those that were just highly strung.

At this stage, I had no idea how this journey would end, but perseverance was key. I’d been made aware of quite how seriously our bodies need adrenal care. It therefore came as no surprise after 20-plus years that I had such low self-esteem and felt so frustrated, tired and distressed, on top of being drained by an influx of emotion .

In 2012, Lara came to me for regular kinesiology sessions (every six to eight weeks), during which time a great deal of EFT and other emotional balancing techniques were performed to help increase her confidence, get rid of fear and anxiety, as well as improving her self-esteem. It helped improve her ability to cope with various other stressful scenarios, such as having to move flats in London, to cope with the sudden death of her father, and to deal with the on-going obstacles and difficulties that her husband presented her during the legal proceedings of her divorce.

It was a most difficult and fragile time, yet Lara managed to take control of her life. At one point she even gave up all stimulants including coffee and alcohol, in an effort to remain stronger and more clear-headed. She felt the kinesiology treatments were helping a lot, but she wanted to go even further. I have only admiration for her, for I have to admit few of my clients would have gone to such levels to take control of their life. But Lara went about it in her own way. I merely gave her body and mind the facility to achieve what she really wanted.

And it worked.

I realised that it was necessary to trust Francoise. Looking back on some of my earlier days with kinesiology, while fighting those horrid, angry moments, I would forget to take my pills or simply decide that I didn’t need them anymore. This behaviour soon took hold, and very quickly I went downhill, spiralled out of control and could hardly concentrate. The mood swings were too great to bear and I became desperate at the severe tension of it all.

Francoise understood how serious my situation had become. In the midst of everything, out of the blue my father suddenly died. I was devastated. Having spent my life being exceptionally close to him and knowing full well he loved me unconditionally, he was gone. Along with my depression and anxiety, bereavement added to the pain of divorce. I was alone and had no one to turn to.

During that period I visited the doctor but only as a matter of course. I felt that as I was just one of presumably several million who felt this way, why would my story be any different to anyone else’s?

My doctor was perfectly happy to prescribe more anti-depressants, but I took the time to read the long list of side-effects inside the box and counted a total of 37 reasons why I neither wanted to become addicted nor merely temporarily to numb the pain. I needed and wanted to break-free from this desperate unhappiness. So from then on, I put my faith into Francoise’s professionalism and relied upon her methods of reaffirming my brain. I believed in her, and I grew confident that she could help me to heal I>.

Nearly two years after meeting Lara, towards the end of 2012, I detected in her the first signs of contentedness and a confidence about the future. I knew from that point that her impending divorce would mark the end to her strife. It would be no more than a formality. She was in complete command of her emotions.

Her relationship with her children has remained intact and, for the sake of everyone concerned, she remains on good terms with her ex-husband. Thanks in no small part to her monumental effort, she bears no bitterness or resentment towards him, and if anything she has learnt to understand his own personality better. I feel personally rewarded that she trusted me to keep her afloat during this very difficult time in her life, and to have witnessed the awe in her discovery that adequate nutrition supports the physical body, and that the many balancing techniques to support her both mentally and emotionally have paid off in such a magnificent way.

The holistic approach of muscle-testing revealed what nutrients my body was missing and I began to re-engage and accept those long-forgotten happy cells I>.

The divorce was finally filed in spring 2013, two years after Lara first saw me, and with her head held high she is finally living the life she paved for herself. Her dependency on supplements for adrenal fatigue is still intermittent as she adjusts to life on her own, but she knows that in order to support her body better she expects to take a few supplements. This is a small price to pay for not depending on medication. Through this whole period of difficulty her immune system remained strong- she has hardly suffered from more than a mild cold in the past few years - and, as her hormones were kept in balance at every session, her menstrual cycle has remained regular. No small added benefits of regular kinesiology sessions.

With the help of kinesiology, Lara looked at her health holistically and is living proof that anyone can survive difficult periods in life by keeping it all ‘natural’.

I am pleased to say that I continue to listen to my gut instincts and to stick with what I was once advised to do: to make a plan. I’ve kept to my word and have let nobody down. I’m home for my children regardless, and I am very happy working with a fantastic team of people for an interesting firm. I’m responsible for my own happiness, and I’m free to make my own choices.

This journey has been very long and challenging, yet I do believe that time does heal. That horrid feeling of being lost, lonely and overly sensitive slowly begins to ease with time and a little patience. The wobbly, dreary days become fewer and fewer, and calling up an old friend starts to be more fun and brings back the missing laughter. My positive energy and optimism have returned as strong as ever, yet like anyone else I still have to motivate myself to stop thinking of the past, to go for a walk, to exercise, learn something new, read more, start travelling and become more interesting myself.

On the back of this, my experience has proved that action does speak louder than words. Anyone can talk the hind legs off a donkey in the surgery with a doctor or councillor, but those professional people cannot feel the tension you really experience when you’re at home living in an icy atmosphere or simply walking on eggshells.

I’m eternally grateful to Francoise Jordan for saving my life. Today, I feel proud. I’ve grown up and survived the most desperate and demanding period of my life. I now love and accept myself for what I am. I’ve learnt to forgive and move on, and my heart will always be filled with unconditional love for my beautiful children. This is just the beginning of my new life, and I trust a real happy-ever-after fairy-tale too. Thank youX.

Adrenal fatigue is not a myth. It should be taken seriously, but as the above account illustrates, keeping those little glands happy with nutrition is not enough. You have to tackle stress head-on. Kinesiology merely helps to empower you to make the changes you genuinely want for yourself.